Structural Analysis of Flavonoid/Drug Target Complexes: NaturalProducts as Lead Compounds for Drug Development

Plants produce pigments called flavonoids that are synthesized (de novo) primarily from the amino acid phenylalanine. Many natural products such as herb preparations for medicinal use contain flavonoids and so these diverse structural compounds have become potential lead compounds for a variety of illnesses ranging from specific cancers to gout. Recently, Biotechnology has been utilized through bioorganic engineering to manufacture flavonoid and modified flavonoids for medicinal applications. A growing number of protein-flavonoid complexes have been crystallized and their structures solved in the last decade. A summary of the protein-flavonoid complexes with medicinal relevance is presented herein. A detailed analysis of selected protein-flavonoid complexes is provided. The goal is to provide insights for modifications to known flavonoids that could be bio manufactured to generate more specific and efficient binding of flavonoids to protein targets with medicinal relevance.